Thread: Building our Retirement Home in Nan Province

Hi BUGBEAR, and welcome. Thank you for the compliment. I've been involved in change management since 1984 and at a senior manager/executive level for the last twenty years. Folks have entrusted me to lead or support the lead for initiatives that are typically costing the organization $100m USD per annum, run 2-5 years, impact core systems/processes, most staff and customers and, they want it done right. That type of work does tend to cause you to become a bit of a planner and organizer. I could go on and on down that track but to be honest I think the most important things about building a home in Thailand are:

1. Pursue the simplest design that meets your requirements and suits the land
2. Use Thai building methods and materials
3. Find a competent builder you can trust

I'm sorely tempted to also include have a Thai speaking wife to handle the majority of the discussions. If you have not done so already get into Thai Dhupp's sticky thread, a ton of excellent info from he and others in there.

It's November now and I turn 60 this month...sigh! If you fancy a trip up north to check out Nan province and our build let me know. Be delighted to show anyone with an interest how it is going and eventually turns out.

Regards,
- BiP

Originally Posted by BUGBEAR

G'day bip,
Thanks for the build thread, very comprehensive and imformative..

I'm an ozzie and have thai wife , similar situation to you but not a professional , a bogan construction labour.,soon to be 60 ,married 11 years ,wife 47..
I will retire here in the future and will build a house also to retire/die..
I'm currently living in Rayon ,Suan Son, I like the area, but have been here only 1 month and have to fall in love with joint before I buy land..

You build has been a dream compared to some of the builds I have read over the many years lurking on this site.
Some may say you are lucky, l say its good management.
Well done man
BB

Site Visit 1 November 2018

It's November. I turn 60 this month. Not sure what I think about it yet. I'm only going to post one photo per post. I'm a little tired of the odd picture 'disappearing' after a day or so, but doesn't seem to happen when there is only one per post.

We visited the home site this morning. Before we did so we AGAIN went to the True office in Pua to find out why the promised call from a technician about the availability of cable connection and home wiring requirements had not been received. Our representations must have worked and this afternoon the technician called to confirm we were in the coverage area. So mega broadband, pay TV and strong wifi are go. Actually pleased about the TV. We've been travelling since September last year and the leased Nan house doesn't have TV, I miss it a bit. Hopefully will catch the business end of the NFL in the new year.

Today we had about ten folks on site plus Mark the builder and his supervisor. The main work done over the last three days was further brick laying, more plumbing, creation of the kitchenette and two bathroom benches and much to my surprise, a start on the electrical cabling. Only key decisions today were to move the electrical switch box into the kitchen, the wife has switched to coloured glass for the windows (think she means tinted), the power to the house will be underground and a light will be at the driveway entrance. More and more it appears Mark the builder is looking for this to be a reference home for him, something we will be delighted to do.

get them now to be sure to run earth wires - make sure it is well understood as to what you want

The bathroom benchtops have been commenced.

The benchtop in bathroom 3 is a little strange. There is a storage cupboard accessed via that door not yet built. It didn't seem practical to extend the storage further along as it could not be accessed from the living room, access is over the stair void.

The back wall of the level 2 kitchette is now in place as is the benchtop.

Originally Posted by baldrick

get them now to be sure to run earth wires - make sure it is well understood as to what you want

And RCBOs (safety switches) on every circuit.

The large window at the south end of the living room has now been defined.

Bathroom 2 coming along.

The wall to define the second edge of the open robe in bedroom 4 is now in place. A wooden shelf will be at around 1.7m above the floor. Underneath will be a strong rail to hang clothes. None of bedrooms 2, 3 or 4 are intended to be permanently occupied so we shied away from enclosed robes.

In each of the four bathrooms the showers are defined by a solid wall 1.6m high and approx 1.1m wide, leaving an access of around 0.8m. No glass = simpler cleaning and maintenance.

Builder says he'll finish by the end of the year. Not impossible. We've penciled in sometime in January and will put a caretaker/security person in the house if there is a gap between the build completion and us moving in. As I've said several times in the thread my only requirement on schedule is to be in before the end of May which is when our Nan house lease expires.

Originally Posted by Club Soda

You'll be doing well to be in before Christmas.

Confirmed.

Originally Posted by docmartin

And RCBOs (safety switches) on every circuit.

Was specified and discussed. But a very worthy point to follow up now. Thanks. Going to have the wife send a Line message to Mark the builder this afternoon.

Originally Posted by baldrick

get them now to be sure to run earth wires - make sure it is well understood as to what you want

Originally Posted by BoganInParasite

Builder says he'll finish by the end of the year.

You know Thai New Year is Songkran - mid April 2019 ... seems about right

Coming along nicely, Bogan.
Thanks for the continuing updates.

Best to it's success.